Interview with Diana’s Decorative Designs

Tell me a little about yourself.

Hello, my name is Diana and I am the mother to three teenage girls and married to my husband of 23 years. I live in California, which is where I have spent most of my life, except for 5 years of it and that was spent in Washington State. I enjoy doing many outdoor activities with my family, such as Snowmobiling, Jet Skiing, Ski Boating, and riding quad motorcycles. These are activities that my family and I have always done together and I really find it fun and exciting.

I also enjoy being creative! My love for crafting has always been the biggest part of my life besides my family. The ideas of what could be created by hand has always been so interesting to me. Making handmade crafts myself and trying new ways to be creative has really been extremely satisfying to me. The idea of knowing, “I” made it and I worked hard to complete it, is the best feeling in the world. Seeing the beauty of creativity gave me the passion to continue on a journey of crafting.

How did you begin making such beautiful paper creations?

My paper creations didn’t come first. The crafting first started at the age of seven when I was taught how to crochet. It was the first time I had created a handmade item and I wanted to continue to create all kinds of projects with yarn. Later, in my teen years, I taught myself to knit. It took some time and lots of hours of hard work, but I finally got the hang of it and started making blankets for family and friends. There was a time when I started noticing that there was so many more ways to create and craft after browsing through the local craft store, I was completely mesmerized. I literally wanted to try my hand at everything! That’s when I stumbled upon scrapbooking and all that it had to offer.  Seeing different patterns & designs on album pages and being able to add photos to those incredible works of art, made me want to make my own. During those days, everything was created by hand, cut by hand and drawn by hand. I found it fun & being able to create such cute things from so many materials made me want to learn more about what I could create with paper.

It wasn’t until many years later that my mom had purchased a Cricut machine and wanted me to help her learn how to use it. The original Expressions Cricut machine is what she owned. The Expressions machine required cartridges that you would place in the machine so that it could cut the templates onto cardstock. Once I had seen the images that could be cut from this machine, I was obsessed and knew paper crafting was my choice of materials to be creative with. I started off just making things for myself, then family and eventually creating items that could be used at my kids school. It was the excitement of knowing I created something that brought joy to others that really made me happy. Knowing that that I could take a piece of paper/cardstock and create the most beautiful things from it, was my new interest and new love.

What is Dianas.Decorative.Designs all about?

Diana’s Decorative Designs is all about the possibilities of creativity! Making decorations for others to enjoy and use, being creative themselves and learning to fall in love with handmade items too. I feel that possibilities are endless when it comes to crafting. I want to be able to share my passion as well as knowledge with others, so they can either learn themselves, or want to own a beautifully made paper craft designed by me.

Made with our Bright Cardstock pack!

Where do you get your inspiration?

My inspiration comes from everywhere. I may see a picture of a piece of art, crafting materials, or even other artist’s creativity and it makes me want to create something beautiful too. The idea of taking so many random items and creating a craft with it, really inspires me. That’s what I love about paper crafting. The fact that I can design it, that I can put it together with any of my materials and to see others loving what I create, keeps me motivated. It inspires me to keep doing what I love.

How do you mention your time with family and creating such beautiful designs?

I normally try my best to set aside time for my work and time to spend it with my family. Family is extremely important to me, just as crafting, but somehow I am able to manage doing both. Designing usually comes early in the morning or late in the evening when my family and I have had our time together. I’m very fortunate that I am able to have the time to do both and it helps because my family supports my enjoyment for crafting.

Do you have a favorite holiday/life event to create for?

I really enjoy Fall and Christmas decorating. There is something about the colors and feeling I get when I create decorations for these holidays. Seeing a fall banner hanging on my mantel just makes my home feel more like the holidays. Last year I created paper decorations that I hung on our flocked Christmas tree and it was really beautiful to see them as part of “our” family tree.

Any advice for someone interested in learning how to make paper crafts?

The best advice I can give for someone interested in learning how to paper craft is to first, have fun with it. Enjoy the process and all the possibilities of what “you” can create and don’t be afraid to try.  Even if it is something new to you and might be out of your comfort zone, you still should try it and see if it’s something for you. Not all of us are pros at first, but with dedication and practice we can learn how to do anything we put our mind to. Start off small so you don’t get discourage, then next move onto something bigger. You will find yourself wanting to learn and do more once you finally get the hang of it.

With all of the different options available to express one’s creativity, why do you choose paper?

I chose paper as my creative outlet because, there are so many different colors, patterns and types of paper that allow me to craft and make things that sparkle and shine. Paper crafts are used to help celebrate so many wonderful things in someone’s life. Birthdays are the biggest celebration that are recognized daily and everyone loves a cake topper or banner to hang to express someone’s special day. Even holiday celebrations are important and everyone likes to decorate their homes for those occasions too. Paper is so versatile and can be designed in many different ways to make just the perfect decoration.

Where do you see Dianas.Decorative.Designs in the future?

I see my business still working with paper but also branching out to other aspects of crafting like teaching, tutorials and even DIY projects. Showing others ways to be creative themselves is something I really enjoy.

What other projects/endeavors are you working on?

I’m currently working with an organization to help promote ideas of how others can share their crafting to brighten someone’s day, as well as, designing my own templates for other crafters to use in their designs. Crafting is the best outlet to share your creativity and if I can somehow inspire others to want to create with paper, I will continue to be as helpful as I can in their creativity. Having customers who admire my work and want to order my paper decorations keeps me constantly thinking about new designs and ways I can help celebrate the important occasions and milestones in their lives.

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